Dopamine Transporter

The dopamine transporter (DAT) is a membrane protein belonging to the Neurotransmitter:Sodium Symporter (NSS) family, which also includes the closely related serotonin and norepinephrine transporters. NSS are responsible for clearance of released neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine, by DAT) from the synaptic cleft. Function of NSS transporters in neuronal signaling implicate them in the mechanisms of action of abused psychostimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamine, and in various psychiatric and neurological disorders including drug addiction, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease.

Journal article: How structural elements evolving from bacterial to human SLC6 transporters enabled new functional properties, Asghar M. Razavi, George Khelashvili and, Harel Weinstein, BMC Biology 16:31, 2018 [PDF]
Journal article: A Markov State-based Quantitative Kinetic Model of Sodium Release from the Dopamine Transporter, Asghar M. Razavi, George Khelashvili and, Harel Weinstein, Scientific Reports 7: 40076, 2017 [PDF]
Journal article: Thermodynamic Coupling Function Analysis of Allosteric Mechanisms in the Human Dopamine Transporter, Michael V. LeVine, Michel A. Cuendet, Asghar M. Razavi, George Khelashvili and, Harel Weinstein, Biophysical Journal 114: 10-14, 2018
Conference talk: Asghar M. Razavi, George Khelashvili, Michael V. LeVine, Michel A. Cuendet, Harel Weinstein (2018, March 19). Allosteric networks in biological systems. Presented at the Distributed, Collective Computation in Biological and Artificial Systems conference, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA

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About the author asgharrazavi

Asghar Razavi is a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. He received his Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry and Biophysics from Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. His current research at the Weinstein lab focuses on developing molecular level quantitative kinetic models to understand thermodynamics, kinetics, and conformational pathways during function of neurotransmitter transporters and G protein-coupled receptors.